A blog dedicated to striving for improvement without getting crazy.

Tag Archives: you can do it

It’s no secret that I’ve been lacking motivation lately. In fact, I started this blog in order to recommit myself to healthy living and be held accountable to someone/something outside of my own head. So far, I’ve set two goals in order to get back “on the wagon,” so to speak. As simple as those small goals seem, they are proving to be a big challenge for me. So far, it’s only been a few days and I’ve already been tempted to cheat on myself. I haven’t – yet, knock on wood – but it’s taken Herculean efforts to stay strong. (But the blog accountability is helping!)

It’s the same when it comes to a tough workout. I attended a boot camp class last night. After having skipped the last two weeks, it was really hard! I haven’t been blowing off my workouts (most days), but my body forgot how physically taxing that class is. More than once, I wanted to give up. More than once, I kept at it and pushed through. (Yay me!) But more than once, I gave up.

While many “motivational” sites post pictures of unachievable and/or unrealistic fitness models covered in glimmery sweat, squatting heavy weight with an “inspirational quote” overlaid (like these, or this, or this), Instamotivation is simple. Open the link to the site, and all you see are quotes like the following:

“Happiness is pushing your limits and watching them back down.”

“The harder you work, the better you get.”

“The voice inside your head that says you can’t do this is a liar.”

These short, simple quotes are – in my opinion – the right way to go when it comes to “fit”-spiration. Pushing your own limits, rather than trying to compete with unrealistic “role models,” will prove to be much more effective long-term. Though extrinsic motivation’s fire may burn brighter, intrinsic motivation’s flame will last longer. Striving to out-perform yourself every day is a healthy goal that everyone can work toward.